Allah knows. It is possible that this is an independent statement, and that the meaning is: He is Allah, explaining it in the latter way. Then it begins and it is said: He knows what every female carries. And 'what' in what she carries, and what her womb diminishes, and what it increases, is either relative or verbal. If it is relative, the meaning is that He knows what she carries of offspring, in terms of whether it is male or female, complete or premature. Premature is defined as when the she-camel gives birth before the full term, so it is said to be 'premature' and the offspring is 'premature' or 'incomplete' if it is born lacking in form. He knows what the womb diminishes, meaning what it lacks. It is said: The water diminished, and I diminished it. From it is His saying: 'And the water diminished.' And what it increases, meaning what it takes additionally. You say: I took my right from him, and I increased from him such and such. From it is His saying: 'And they increased by nine.' It is said: I increased him, so he increased by himself and he increased. And what the womb diminishes and increases in the number of offspring, for it may contain one, and it may contain two, three, or four. It is narrated that Sharik was the fourth of four in his mother's womb. From it is the body of the child, for it may be complete or premature. From it is the duration of his birth, for it may be less than nine months and more than that up to two years according to Abu Hanifa, and up to four according to Al-Shafi'i, and up to five according to Malik. It is said that Al-Duhak was born after two years, and Harim ibn Hayyan remained in his mother's womb for four years, and for this he was named Harim. From it is the blood, for it may decrease or increase. And if it is verbal, the meaning is that He knows the carrying of every female, and He knows the diminishing and increasing of the wombs; nothing of that is hidden from Him, nor of its times and conditions. It is possible that the diminishing of what is in the wombs and its increase is intended, so the action is attributed to the wombs while it is about what is in them, on the condition that the two actions are not transitive. This is supported by the saying of Al-Hasan: The diminishing is when she gives birth at eight months or less than that, and the increase is when it exceeds nine months. And from him, the diminishing is what is aborted before completion, and the increase is what is born complete by a measure and limit that does not exceed it or fall short of it, as His saying: 'Indeed, We created everything by measure.' The Great, the Exalted, who is above everything, the Exalted in His power, or who is greater than the attributes of the created beings and transcends them.